Eatin' Pretty in the City

Bored with CT, the Hubbers and I wandered into Manhattan yesterday with no set plans and empty tummies. We had heard about Junior's cheesecake online and were psyched to try it for the first time. Imagine my surprise when we got to the stand in GCT and I realized that Juniors is where I ALWAYS get dessert before getting on the train. Who knew that other people liked it so much too! We indulged in a slice of Junior's devil's food cake -1/2 chocolate cake with layers of chewy fudgy frosting with dark chocolate chips and 1/2 creamy, not to sweet cheesecake. I loved how the two balanced each other- the cheesecake is super smooth and slightly sour, but light, and it really worked well with the dense cake and super sweet fudge frosting. Our special thanks to the counter guy who asked if we wanted the larger slice of cake and understood without me having to explain that Coke Zero is far superior to Diet Coke. Obviously he and I are kindred souls and must have dated in a past life.

Cafe Olympia (833 2nd Ave) was a surprising find. We wanted to escape the midtown crush and literally wandered into this deli/pizza/noodle bar/grocery store. I loved that this shop just can't decide what it wants to be when it grows up- even the music was conflicting- Spanish salsa, Asian ballads and pop music play simultaneously and at top volume to assault your ears. One would think the result would be a walk to the western wall of the cafe for some aspirin, but instead the sounds meld to create a funky, if frenzied soundtrack for your dining experience. Sandwiches here are imaginative, large and well priced. My spicy turkey, mayo, pepper jack cheese and roasted red peppers on multigrain bread was fantastic, and at $6.50 with a soda(!), I was grinning by the end of the meal (although I'm somewhat positive that the air conditioning and cold beverage contributed to my improved mood).

The best part of the day though (from a culinary point of view, since the stroll in Central Park was romantic and the real best part of the day) was the green tea mochi ball we tried for dessert. As we payed for our sandwiches, I noticed these fun looking little balls of dough by the counter. I pointed out their cuteness and my desire to play with them to the Hubby (he really is so tolerate of my weirdness) and the owner overheard me. She said they were fantastic Japanese desserts and that we had to try one. After assuring us that the green tea flavor was her favorite, I selected a lime green lump and practically skipped away convinced I holding a delicious treat in my hand which could potentially double as playdough.

I was even more delighted when I remembered that I had heard of mochi before- anyone who watched last season of ABC's "I survived a Japanese Game Show" will remember how contestants had to eat as many balls of mochi as they could in 10 minutes. I recalled that they said that it was very chewy. I also recalled that while none of them loved it, no one tossed their cookies, which made us a bit bolder in unwrapping our prize.

So we opened it. The patty/ball/lump was very squishy to the touch - it was highly satisfying to prod at, but tasted like, well, mushy rice. Inside was a fun filling- BEANS! that's right, beans, as in like a paste of red beans that was just slightly sweet and tasted like the legume with little adornment. To be perfectly honest, we didn't like it. The outer paste tasted like gummy flour, and the bean paste was a lil gritty. It wasn't good eating, but we were happy to try something new, and in all honesty, the poking, prodding and pulling at the cake was so much fun that it didn't really matter that we didn't want to eat it. I urge you all to decide the mochi debate for yourself the next time you are feeling peckish, but as a toy, mochi rocks!